Open Letter to State Mission Director RMSA

Sir, The undersigned, on behalf of the 360 Special Education Teachers (SET), beg to state on the subject cited above as follows: 1. That the orders by which we have been appointed very clearly lays down the terms and conditions of our appointment and the terms and condition No. 1 of the order provides that “the period of this Special Education Teacher will be Co-Terminus as in the case of any Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) appointment.” This, without any doubt, means so long as the CSS continues our services also shall continue and our services shall be liable to termination only when the CSS comes to an end. 2. That the “Preliminary Findings of Task Force on IEDSS 2013-14” (copy enclosed) in paragraph 5 of the Summary of Findings states in detail the reasons, manner and nature of our appointment which needs no further elaboration. The paragraph 5 is reproduced as follows: “5. The fresh teachers were appointed directly as per the terms and conditions laid down by the Government vide No.DSE/IEDSS/4-2/2012 dated Nil.00T.2012 (Annexure-D). In the absence of qualified teachers as prescribed by the Rehabilitation Council of India, the 391 teachers appointed under IEDSS are paid a fixed remuneration of Rs. 8500/- pm. It may also be pertinent to state that the State Government has apprised the MHRD about the dearth of qualified teachers and in this regard Secretary (School Education & Literacy) Ministry of Human Resource Development suggested for training of such teachers through distance learning mode, this has been recorded in the Minutes of the meeting of project Monitoring & Evaluation Group (PM&EG) held on 9th Jan, 2012 (Annexure —E).” 3. That the “Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee Headed by the Chief Secretary to Examine the Report of the Task Force Held on 28th July 2014 at 1230 Hrs in the Conference Hall of the Chief Secretary” (copy) also contains the following findings in respect of the SETs: “(b) Appointment of teachers. Regarding appointment of 1438 in-service teachers, the Principal Director informed that they had not been identified yet and that the figures were only estimates. As regards the freshly appointed 391 teachers, he informed that they did not possess the requisite qualifications, because of which they were being paid Rs. 8,500/- and not Rs. 23,230/- as prescribed by MHRD. It was informed that they would be eligible for payment of the higher amount on completion of the training prescribed by the Rehabilitation Council of India. (d) Requirement to acquire appropriate degrees. It was informed that MHRD had advised the School Education Department to have the 391 teachers trained through distance education mode. However, it was the general view of the members that distance education was not easy, and for a programme relating to the disabled, may not also be appropriate. The Chairman of the Task Force was accordingly advised to explore other options available before proceeding.” 4. That further, the “Report of the Committee Constituted to Examine Matters Relating to Implementation of the Scheme of ‘Inclusive Education for the Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) in the State of Nagaland” (copy enclosed) contains detailed consideration of the issues involving the IEDSS programme and recommendations have been made. In the report, it is to be found, among others, that the SETs have been appointed on condition that their appointment shall be co-terminus with the project. 5. That it is pertinent to state herein that from 12th to 15th September, 2013,”Training on Inclusive Education for Teachers under IEDSS” was conducted for the SETs by the Directorate of School Education and all the teachers attended the programme. At the conclusion of the programme, the teachers were informed that they would be sent for training in batches to undertake the Foundation Course on Special Education at the expense of Department. Thereafter, the list of teachers to be sent for the training was also prepared, but for reasons known only to the Department, no teacher was sent to undergo the Training. 6. That finally, sometime in the beginning of 2016, we have all been informed orally by Mr. Wobenthung Lotha, the Deputy Mission Director, i/c IEDSS, to undertake the prescribed training at our own expenses and to submit to him the report on the taking of admission to the training course. As directed, we have started the process of admission to the training course. Here it is pertinent to mention that there are no institutions in Nagaland imparting the training in Special Education. So far as our knowledge is concerned, there are few institutions in Guwahati and Shillong where the course is imparted. Therefore, all of us teachers had to approach these institutions for admission, but because of the limited number of seats in the institutions only about 80 to 90 of us who were first to approach the institutions have been able to get admitted and the rest are awaiting their turn. The receipt of admission and authentication letter from the concerned institutions have also been submitted to the Deputy Mission Director. 7. That while matter rests thus, by the “Joint Meeting Minutes Held With the State Vigilance Commission, School Education and Finance Department on 11th March 2016 in the Conference Hall of the Chief Secretary Nagaland”, (copy enclosed) it was decided to extend the service of all genuine SET till March 2016 with no further extension of service as none of the SETs are trained. It was also decided to initiate fresh appointment through open advertisement by April, 2016. As such, by the Order NO.NLD/RMSA/IEDSS/SET/2015-16(PT) dated 24.06.2016, our services have been extended upto 31.03.2016 and terminated on expiry of the extension. 8. That it is respectfully stated that the Government of Nagaland is aware that there are no trained teachers available in Nagaland, and because of it, we have been appointed with the knowledge of the MHRD on the condition that we would undergo training subsequent to our appointment. Upon our appointment, we have attended the training on Inclusive Education for Teachers under IEDSS conducted by the Department and have now gained good measure of experience in teaching the Special Students. Further, as per the requirement of our services, we are in the process of undergoing the requisite training. Under such circumstances, it is not only illegal but also malafide on the part of the State to decide to do away with our services with a view to bring in new untrained teachers. Such action is also against the interest of the Special Students, whose right to education is being arbitrarily deprived by the State action of terminating the SETs en masse. 9. That when our appointment is made on the condition that it shall be co-terminus with the IEDSS programme, so long as the programme continues, our services cannot be validly terminated. 10. That the order dated 24.06.2016 being retrospective in operation is utterly illegal and cannot be sustained in any manner. 11. That in any view of the matter, the order terminating our services cannot be sustained. 12. That in the interest of justice, it is urged that the order dated 24.06.2016 be recalled and cancelled. Under the facts and circumstances aforesaid, we respectfully pray that the order dated 24.06.2016 be recalled and cancelled in the interest of justice, for which act of kindness we shall ever remain grateful.